Operational Resilience Manager

The Operational Resilience Manager, reporting to the Director, Operational Resilience, executes the enterprise Operational Resilience strategy for the Canada Life organization. As a dynamic, highly-motivated, and energetic member of the Operational Resilience team, you contribute to the overall support and stability of Canada Life through the effective and efficient execution of the Operational Resilience program. You will play a key role in developing, implementing, and overseeing resilience strategies to ensure the organization’s ability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from operational disruptions. 

In this role, you will work closely with business units, risk and compliance partners, and technology teams to integrate resilience practices into day-to-day operations and strategic decision-making. This role requires highly advanced specialized knowledge and skills to facilitate efforts in ensuring the organization's resilience against disruptions. You will facilitate the critical services lifecycle, including mapping essential processes, setting impact tolerances, conducting scenario testing, and managing issues and actions. Additionally, you will support business continuity planning, risk assessments, and recovery strategies to safeguard critical functions and maintain compliance with regulatory expectations. This role will be formalizing best practices for rules of engagement & resilience strategies, identifying process improvements, enhancing & developing standards/guidelines for Operational Resilience for Canada Life.

Success in this role requires strong analytical and problem-solving skills, as well as the ability to navigate complex, high-pressure situations. Strong collaboration and influencing skills are also essential to this role. The candidate will be required to provide strategic insights and guidance and foster a culture of resilience and risk awareness across the organization. As a subject matter expert, you will collaborate with senior leaders and cross-functional teams to evolve and mature the Operational Resilience program and make recommendations drive continuous improvement. 

What you will do: 

• Develop and implement operational resilience strategies, ensuring alignment with regulatory expectations and industry best practices 

• Collaborate with business units, technology and risk and compliance partners to integrate resilience into day-to-day operations and strategic decision making 

• Facilitate the critical services lifecycle including performing end-to-end mapping, setting impact tolerances, conducting scenario testing and managing issues and actions 

• Support business continuity planning, risk assessments and recovery strategies to safeguard critical business functions 

• Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements related to operational resilience, working closely with risk and compliance teams 

• Maintain robust governance structures to oversee resilience programs and drive continuous improvement 

• Serve as a subject matter expert, providing strategic insights, guidance and recommendations to leadership and cross-functional teams

• Promote a culture of resilience and risk awareness across the organization 

What you will bring:

• Post-secondary degree/diploma in business or an equivalent combination of training and experience 

• 5+ years’ experience in working in risk management, operational resilience, business continuity or related fields within financial services or a regulated industry 

• Strong knowledge of regulatory requirements and industry best practices related to operational resilience 

• Experience in conducting risk assessments, scenario testing and crisis response planning 

• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to analyze complex issues and recommend solutions 

• Strength in building partnerships and working collaboratively with a variety of skills and levels

• Proficiency in data analysis, reporting and dashboard development to track resilience metrics